Favorite Christmas Sights and Sounds and Memories.

What to write about?  Does your character like the seasonal holiday time or does he/she dread it? Why? Do you want your character to feel the same emotions that you do once the time is upon us?  How about that cousin, aunt or uncle that makes you crazy?

Here is a description straight out of A CHILDS CHRISTMAS IN WALES by Dylan Thomas.  Copyright 1954

    

      For dinner we had turkey and blazing pudding, and after dinner the Uncles sat in front of the fire, loosened all buttons, put their large moist hands over their watch chains, groaned a little and slept. Mothers, aunts and sister scuttled to and fro, bearing tureens. Auntie Bessie, who had already been frightened, twice, by a clock-worked mouse, whimpered at the sideboard and had some elderberry. The dog was sick. Auntie Dosie had to have three aspirins, but Auntie Hannah, who liked port, stood in the middle of the snowbound back yard, singing like a big-bosomed thrush.

That paragraph evokes all sorts of sights, sounds, and emotions.  Take the time and count all the emotions and write down what they are.  Afterwards, the descriptive words.  Dylan Thomas sets the scene and puts you right there in the middle of it.

Go ahead and write your holiday scene with your character.  Are you dropping the reader right in the middle of it? I would hope to be like one of the latter aunts, Dosie or Hannah.  They seem to know how to have fun.

Have fun and happy holidays!  Please leave a comment and share!

Barb

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Favorite Thanksgiving or turkey

I’m pretty sure that most of you haven’t written about the best Thanksgiving Day turkey that you’ve ever tasted, but here’s your chance.  Holidays evoke memories and emotions so let it all-hang-out!  I for one remember the final time that I had Thanksgiving with my mother.  I came home that night because one of the boys had a hockey tournament over the weekend. We had a great stuffed turkey and laughed and my brother’s and families were all together but on Friday when I returned from the hockey game there was a phone message from one of my brothers.  Our dad was found dead in the morning from an apparent heart attack. 

When I wrote about it, I had to distance myself from my emotions.

You go ahead and write about your favorite Thanksgiving or turkey. Was it good just because you and your loved one were together?  Or did the turkey turn out to be drier than beef jerky?  

Set your timer for 15 minutes and write about it.  Those of you who can’t stand the holiday, go ahead write about why you don’t.  Enjoy the exercise.

Are you done?  Sorry, I didn’t write about it.  I picture our family together and find it difficult to write.  I guess that I’m just not ready.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Please comment and share!

Barb

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Which character? Fish out of water.

Is your setting set in nature? Do you walk in the woods or is it in town with noise? Let’s pretend that your primary character is walking in the woods and is unused to all the sights and sounds of the rustling and riffling of the leaves or crunching from smaller animals.  Has this person ever come straight up with a deer? What will they feel like? What are they seeing? Do they fear the sounds of cracking of the trees?  Let’s write about it, shall we?

Let’s begin by choosing a character that needs to be shaken up!  If you’re in the middle of a project and don’t quite know where to go—you know what I’m talking about.  Let’s take a fish out of water and see what this person will do.  They are people, right!

Once you’ve chosen your person or character, set the timer for 20 minutes and begin to write.  Here’s some of what I wrote:

                I woke early in the morning and looked out across the back yard and wondered where the devil I was. The early morning sun helped clear my head as I sat up and listened. I wasn’t used to living in town with traffic and voices. I found it interesting and bothersome. At home where there was silence and only a loud muffler once in a while is all the noise I heard.  How am I going to manage here, by myself, in search of my lost childhood friend?

Okay! Stop the timer if you haven’t already.  Above is a portion of what I wrote.  I started with a paragraph from one of my books and then changed the whole book in one sweep of a few words.  ‘where the devil I was’.  The whole perspective and story itself is completely different from the published book.  Wow! I could write a new book with that paragraph.

   Go ahead and write-write-write!  Enjoy the day!

Barb

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The Emotion

Now that you’ve worked out what emotions are strong in your writing, let’s write about something that was very emotional.  I know that we’ve already covered emotions, but they’re worthwhile to dig deeper to really discover the emotions within ourselves.

     I know that when my mother passed away, I couldn’t cry.  It hurt way too much.  I didn’t cry for three months.  I must say, though, that my dad has passed away nine months earlier so it was like a double-whammy. The silence was deadly.  It was when the time change came upon us when it hit.  Dad always called to remind me.  Mom would call and say that she’d missed changing the coffeepot timer the night before and it started too early, waking her.  The silence from not hearing from either one brought the tears. The realization that life was fleeting suddenly hit me.  I cried buckets.

      The other life changing occurrence was when my oldest and later youngest went for basic training. Fortunately, the youngest went in the National Guard wasn’t away from home for too long but the other was gone for four years.  That made me nuts, I really missed my son.  I’m a visual person.  I put pictures of him all over the house.  The pictures saved my sanity. When we’d speak on the phone, I’d look all around to see where the voice was coming from even though I knew he was safe in Germany. 

      Why don’t you take fifteen minutes and write about the hardest, life-changing event?  Set the timer and begin writing.  This will pull out all emotions, good or bad.  After, count them and see how many of each of the five senses you used the most.  It’s a great beginning for a story or a book.  It’ll draw your readers in and want to read more. 

    Do it!

  

   Happy writing!  Please leave a comment and follow me.  You can reach me here:  Twitter  Facebook Goodreads  Barb's Books

Emotions. Do you display them?

 Have you described your emotions on the page? Every scene is emotional.  It may not be a said emotion, but it must be conveyed. When my son enlisted in the army, I was proud of him but at the same time, my heart sunk to my knees.  I knew what the future would bring.  How do you describe the bittersweet? Here’s what I wrote to myself at the time:

    There’s that salad, sitting out on the front porch waiting for the guests to arrive with their contributions of hotdishes to add to the potluck.

    Potluck you say? What else could it be? My son is going away—far away—into the army and I feel that I will never see him again. The neighbors, friends and relatives have all been invited to attend the open house.

   Where is the kid? Oh! There he is dressed in his new shirt and jeans and youthful smile that shows how naïve and vulnerable he is—truly—coming from a mom and pop family and going where no man has before—an army of one--. 

    My son who has his young fiancé—too young and immature—stands on the other side of him. I’m supposed to be the love of his life.  

    The guests are arriving time to for me to pull myself together. 

  What am I not telling you?  What of the five senses am I displaying?  Am I displaying true emotion?  I’d like to know what you think.  

    Thanks so much for reading this blog. You can read comments below. Please feel free to share.

   Barb

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Characters and senses. Their likes and dislikes.

Have you ever thought writing about rooms in your house as worthwhile?  I didn’t either until I tried it.  Describe what you see in the kitchen or do you want to begin with the family room?  It doesn’t really matter.  We’ll get to know your characters likes and dislikes.  Are you the main character or most of you, I should say?  I am in an awful lot of my books.  Mostly it’s me.  In The Broken Circle, most of me was in it. I had been a teacher and knew the classroom scenes plus had a boyfriend who went to Vietnam while serving in the Marines.  In my White House Dollhouse series, I always loved dolls and am a history buff. Who are you in your books?  Let’s find out your likes and dislikes.

     Choose a room and it really doesn’t have to be from your home, but it must evoke strong memories. Set your timer for five minutes, then write about the room. Put down any details that you remember about the room. When the timer goes off, then stop.

      Circle all visual words.  How many did you use? Write down the number.

      Circle all words that make sounds—verbs. How many? Enter the number.

      Continue with smell, taste and touch. 

     How many words for each of the senses?  Now you know where your strength and weaknesses are.  

     Now go ahead and add your character in the room and see what happens.  If you don’t care for the character you added then try another one.  You’ll see how each character responds to different settings.

     I hope this helps you in your writing.

     Please leave a comment and follow me.  Happy writing!

     Barb 

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Is your book set in a hobby store?

Is your book set in a hobby store?

My mystery series is set in a White House dollhouse store.  I started having problems almost immediately because of the age differences between the person who raised her from a little girl and her knowledge of the first ladies.  How could a girl in her early twenties know so much about the first ladies plus all the nuances surrounding the many presidents? I had to make her educated and a little older.

My corner of the characters’ universe was drawn, I decided upon the First Lady Dolley Madison  as the first miniature doll plus the president. I had already researched Dolley and was in love with her. I wanted to make her as important as the main character. So, I speak to my dolls frequently which allows the reader to learn a little bit of history.

In all four novels the store is in a brown stone building which was built at the turn of the 20^th century, right around 1880-1920. The building age fits the concept of what I was after—older buildings—quaint and interesting.  However, I change a building here and there, using new ownership and businesses.

As the reader follows along in SPANGLED to DEATH I have the characters eating at a local coffee house near where she lives, The Riverview.

Who occupies the diner? Coffeeshop? Do you have a garden? This and more is all part of your setting? Who tends the garden and buries the dead at night under a moonless night? Are there bushes nearby for the killer to hide behind?  Maybe you’re not writing a mystery, but there is always a character that’s a little odd or different, isn’t there? What makes them odd? The block they live on or what the house looks like? 

Know your setting and characters then the book will come to you.

Happy writing and have fun!

Please feel free to share and respond.

Barb

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Draw the setting!

You can’t draw, you say?  Well…you just might be better than you think you are!  

Go and get a sheet of typing paper, get two—and tape them together. Now you’ll have two blocks of your little imaginary town or ‘real’ town.  Stick figures are not so hard to draw. With a ruler you can draw the middle street just by tracing either side of the utensil.

Don’t tell me you can’t draw a house or other buildings!  Yes, you can!  Take that ruler and trace a line about three inches above the top and bottom of the page from—the middle ruler line.  For my book, Body on the Tracks, I taped 20-25 paper sheets together and had them all around my dining room table. Since it’s a train book, I drew in railroad tracks instead of a road.  Where your buildings are, draw a vertical line down to the sidewalk or street. Do you see? It’s all drawn with a ruler.

How many store fronts do you need? Pencil in the store name or if it’s a neighborhood, the family name. Afterwards, decorate. Get to know if this business or home has flowers. Trees? Swingsets? This may mean children.

Now you’ll meet your characters on their own playing field.  In Body on the Tracks, I placed Victory Gardens along the way and mentioned towns and news about the Zephyrettes and how they assisted the women and children.

I wouldn’t have been able to get the time zones correct or the people in the cars without the use of my drawings.

Now you know what to do and how to get started on getting to know your settings and characters better.

Have fun!

Please share and or leave a message!

Happy writing!

Barb

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Add to the Life!

Are you ready to continue with your drawing? You are? Or do you think I'm a little on the nutty side? You'll be able to decide that later!

    Now that you have your four major corners, how about adding to it by attaching minor neighborhoods?  In my White House Dollhouse series, I had the neighborhood where the store is located but the character lived in a different section of the city.  Since  the setting was where I grew up, it was set in my mind and only needed a few tweaks such as the drugstore now being a coffee shop. That was easy but for those of you with settings in locations where you not so attached or knowledgeable of, you may need a drawing to have it fixed in your mind. 

    From many sources, I've heard never to write about your neighborhood. In my historical fiction, Body on the Tracks, I made the mistake of not drawing the tracks between the start and end points. I had the sun rising and setting at all different times and locations where it shouldn't.  Needless to say, since my setting was a train, I had an awful lot of settings to draw because of the cars, plus the train's location along the route. It did border on a nightmare during the writing time, however, in the end, it made for a better, tighter read.

     Now you see why the setting must come first, I hope! 

                     

     Your assignment is to decide characters for the various stores, etc, in your setting block.  While deciding upon characters, here's a question--what is in the stores?  Ladies wear? A beauty shop? The character always needs to know where they are at. 

     Or do they?

Happy writing!

Barb

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GIVE YOUR CHARACTER LIFE!

     Do you have an idea for a story? Have you put it together in your head but still don't know where to begin? Maybe the setting isn't quite right?

     Here's a few questions or thoughts to think about:

     Have you drawn the setting? 

     Neighborhood? 

     Do the characters fit inside of the setting?

     I grew up in Minneapolis and used to go shopping in downtown Minneapolis with my girlfriends and or grandma when I was younger, then I married and eventually moved to Bemidji. However, when I first began to write, I knew that Minneapolis would be the setting for my books. I loved the area on the other side of downtown, the older part of the city. The street is still cobblestone and the Stone Arch Bridge is nearby. In fact it's a lovely area to stroll in the summer or to walk from the bridge up to Hennepin Avenue bridge, cross the river, and go back. It's a gorgeous walk.

    Once you've decided upon a setting, then what?

    Draw it!  Yes! Sketch it out on a sheet of computer paper so you have it. By drawing the neighborhood, it'll make sense once you're deeper into your story. Will your character fit the scene? The setting?

    Make sure you draw all four corners of the chosen setting. Put in the building names, cafe, bookstore, etc. You get the picture. 

    Now you can start to think about what goods you'll have inside of each building. Oh yes!

    Do you have a drugstore? Grocery? Gas station? 

    Give it life.  Your character will live then, too!

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5 Star Review!

I just received my first five start review for my book, WORD to DEATH! I feel fabulous, like my writing journey has been worth it!  It actually is the second mystery that I wrote, and it circles around the Lincoln's. I've always felt sorry for Mary Lincoln and the way she was treated. She'd endured an awful lot and wasn't treated kindly by her family, press, and those in the administration nor those in politics at the time of his death. Did you know that even when she traveled to Europe with her son, Tad, she was ignored? How horrible and terrible.  There was no excuse for the unjust treatment that she received. Now I feel better about it all. Please take a look at my White House Dollhouse books.

 On an added note, I will be speaking and reading from my books on February 11, at 5:30 from the Bemidji Library. Please come and join me if you can!

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Free books!!

Now that the holidays are over and gone, it's time to snuggle up with a new book. Do you like mysteries?  I have a selection for you and the best part of the whole deal is that they're FREE!
     I belong to an online group called, 'Bookfunnel', where we can post our books and the company will deliver them.  All I need to do is join a specific bunch of authors, and then post the link as much as I'd like.  I post it all over since it's such a great deal for everyone.      Please feel free to share this blog on all of your social media so that your friends can enjoy getting a free book also.  I am allowing my readers to download the book, WORD to DEATH. WORD to DEATH is a race between a First Lady enthusiast and a greedy killer who will stop at nothing to locate the original manuscript of Abraham Lincoln's famous speech.        My website also has links to specific sites for you to have fun with! Enjoy!        Barb 

Please share with your friends and family!

                                                         BookFunnel free books!

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